A collected works edition by Walter Matthias Diggelmann. The events do not receive an elevation to the exemplary; they are simply reality. For Diggelmann, there is only the story, the narrative—no commentary, no reflections. All of this is embedded in the logical progression of the fable, in its own truth, which makes the events comprehensible and contemplatable for the reader. Hugo Leber wrote in 1960 in the Rheinischer Merkur about the first publication of Stories about Abel. Stories about Abel, Diggelmann's first novel, was published in 1960 and already contains everything that characterizes the author's later work. It is a novel in stories, strongly autobiographical, and revolves around all the themes that would occupy Diggelmann throughout his life: the search for one's own origins, one's own identity, the longing for love and belonging, and the recurring fear.